Have you ever wondered where your soul drifts after drawing your last breath? Will it be a reincarnation into another world, like in those comic books, or going to heaven or hell as the Bible teaches? Or simply a reincarnation into a new life?
But honestly, who am I to care?
I'm just a petty office worker. I work by day, come home at night, scroll on my phone, and fall asleep. I never cared much about what happens after death. Everyone dies eventually.
But that afternoon — the day I thought I could leisurely finish my office work and then enjoy a delicious fresh strawberry ice cream at the newly opened shop near my house — everything changed completely for me. Instead of taking the bus as usual, I decided to walk, both for exercise and because I had something to do.
"Maybe I should withdraw a bit of money to spend, since I don't have a single cent on me anyway" – I told myself, happily stepping into the ATM in front of the nearby bank. That was the moment right before—
"Get in there, quickly!" – a masked man, holding a gun that didn't look fake at all, was pointing and forcefully thrusting the muzzle into my back.
In that moment, by instinct, I tremblingly raised both hands. At the same time, I thought: "Dammit, life sucks!" – that's just my luck, if it's not a small trouble, then a big trouble will find me.
"Ah... Ah... Ah!" – a blood-curdling scream rang out from inside while I was being pushed into the lobby by the robber.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" – the robber next to me yelled at his accomplice at the staff counter.
"This bitch pressed the call button for the police, so I accidentally pulled the trigger to hit her hand but missed and hit her stomach instead!!" – the accomplice replied, his voice full of panic.
"S–She... she's dead... no longer breathing" – another one right there was kneeling beside her to check.
I was stunned. They... really shot someone... that bank clerk is dead... And it was because that guy accidentally shot her stomach. If I did anything stupid, would this guy shoot me by mistake too?
"Dammit, for real, you idiot, don't dawdle anymore, hurry up, get the money and bolt before we both get caught by the police" – the accomplice urged.
"And this guy, get into that corner with the others for me, quickly" – he poked the gun muzzle into my head and ordered.
I did as he said, kneeling in the corner. My body trembled, a fear overwhelmed my mind. Hoping they would hurry up and nothing would happen to me. But then... the spot where I knelt was a bit... wet... huh... why wet... a water leak... no...
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
The bank clerk, I don't know since when, had pissed his pants until his crotch was soaked, and that guy was right next to me, his urine spreading to my side. So disgusting, dammit, is this guy for real, at least move a bit further away.
"I... I... am sorry... I'm so scared... sorry... brother" – he said to me with a face as if about to cry.
Although I didn't want to blame him in this situation, not to mention someone had already lost their life, so it was understandable that he was scared to the point of pissing himself after seeing his colleague like that— but dammit, move away a bit, he already apologized so why was he still leaning closer to me?
My knees were already hurting, and... it was wet. Couldn't stand it, I intended to stand up and ask the robber to move to another corner.
"Pardon me..." — I was just getting up when... Slip.
"Uh, what??... dammit... my shoes..."
The shoes I bought for at least 20 dollars, why were they so slippery? I lunged toward the robber. And... BANG.
Exactly as I feared, he pulled the trigger in panic. The bullet lodged straight into the middle of my chest.
Pain... so much pain... Oh life... dammit... My boring life ends like this? The strawberry ice cream... And most importantly, I... I'm still a virgin... At least let me know the taste of life then kick the bucket would be fine. Dammit... and dying from slipping on someone else's piss too.
I lay there, feeling the hot blood from my chest spreading out, gradually blurring into that pungent-smelling liquid on the floor. My consciousness began to fade.
My consciousness was drifting in an aimless flow when I suddenly woke up.
"Huh" – I blurted out, trying to look around. Nothing, just an aimless void.
I looked down at myself. No... nothing... I didn't see anything, as if I didn't have a body. This feeling was exactly like my head was floating in the void. I suddenly remembered the horror movie about the headless horseman... only difference was that I was now in the reverse version: Having a head but no damn body.
Suddenly a soulless voice rang out:
[ Welcome to the Hall of Souls ]
A blinding light swept across my eyes. When the scenery became clear, I was stunned: around me were hundreds, thousands of blurred shapes with no clear form also floating like me. All were facing toward that light source.
The mechanical voice continued:
[ Welcome to the Hall of Souls ]
[ Classification: Sector 1 ]
[ Core consciousness identified. Beginning reconstruction process ]
[ Please choose 3 soul fragments of opponents to connect ]
Immediately, in front of me appeared many blurred body images accompanied by floating notes:
[ Goblin Leg ]: Increases movement speed by 5% and ability to hide in the dark. Weakness: Extremely ugly, height limited, poor load-bearing capacity.
[ Goblin Eye ]: Increases vision in the dark by 5%. Weakness: Ugly, going out into the light will decrease vision by 10%, sometimes with a blurry eye effect.
[ Sewer Rat Ear ]: Very sensitive to small sounds. Weakness: Ugly, extremely afraid of loud noises (hearing loud sounds causes light daze).
[ Orc Arm ]: Possesses brutal muscle strength, increases ability to smash and use heavy weapons. Weakness: Ugly, poor flexibility, consumes a lot of soul energy, if other parts cannot lift its weight, it cannot be used.
[ Withered Undead Hand ]: Sturdy, feels no pain. Weakness: Looks very gross, slow movement and smells of death.
[ Injured Gorilla Arm ]: Very long and strong. Weakness: Dislocated shoulder, occasionally falls off during combat.
[ Slime Skin ]: Reduces physical damage taken by 5%, has the ability to stick to vertical surfaces. Weakness: Slimy, extremely sensitive to fire or ice elemental attacks.
[ Stone Scorpion Tail ]: A bony tail about 50 cm long, with a poison hook at the tip. Weakness: Extremely heavy, causes body center of gravity to shift, making walking distorted. Poison carries random effects (???).
[ Torn Demon Bat Wing ]: A pair of thin membrane wings attached to the back, looks somewhat cute. Weakness: Cannot fly, reduces impact force from above by 5%.
[ Smoker's Lung ]: Retains 3% Humanity, has the ability to sense strong smells from afar. Weakness: Extremely poor physical strength, out of breath and coughing fit.
Huh, what is this, what is this mess, stats... characteristics... weaknesses. What on earth are these things.
The voice repeated:
[ Please choose 3 soul fragments of opponents to connect ]
[ You have 30 seconds to choose, please choose ]
"W-what the hell is going on?"
Choose? What do I have to choose? Are these things like in a game, or did I die and reincarnate into a game or something similar? Dammit, now I don't even have my hands to slap myself awake.
The soulless voice began to count down as if urging:
[ Remaining time: 20 seconds... 19... ]
I looked around, thousands of heads that were just here were now gradually vanishing. That disappearance looked truly terrifying, as if vanishing into the void. Is not choosing going to make me disappear forever?
Dammit. Don't understand anything. But I have to choose.
[ Remaining time: 10... 9... ]
"No, no, no! Wait! Choose! I choose!"
In extreme panic, I chose them by instinct.
[ Selection completed: Stone Scorpion Tail, Smoker's Lung, Slime Skin ]
"Huh? Lung... what lung? I didn't choose it?"
Before I could compose myself, a terrible pain arrived. It wasn't like the feeling of being shot, it was as if someone took my body and tore it apart, along with an indescribable feeling of nausea.
I looked down at my body, a dark green, thick liquid began to pour out. What is this? It flowed long, slimy, forming a body mass with no clear shape, just soft and collapsing onto the floor.
Next, a Crack rang out from behind. A gray, jagged stone tail with sharp spikes pierced through the slime layer and grew out. This thing was so heavy it pulled my entire slime body to one side, making it impossible for me to keep my balance.
"Cough... cough cough...!"
My chest tightened, a burning sensation like a burn spread throughout my lungs. Each breath in and out was heavy and intermittent. I coughed uncontrollably, green-gray fluid splashing everywhere.
"W-what is this..."
I tried to control my body but it was very difficult. No arms, no legs. I was just a slimy piece of meat crawling by the weight of the stone tail, rolling back and forth while panting miserably.
[ Soul reconstruction process completed ]
[ Welcome Amalgam serial number #9854448739874571 ]
[ Current status: Exhausted. Humanity: 8% ]
[ Welcome to Soul Arena ]
[ Shall victory be yours ]